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teleSUR - Latinoaméricohttp://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/ELN-Leader-Colombian-Govt-Didnt-Show-Up-to-Ceasefire-Talks-20180221-0035.html
21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 23:13:00 Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) Chief Negotiator Pablo Beltran has accused the government in a Twitter video of "not showing up" to extend the ceasefire agreement between the two parties "without any real motives."

Beltran, in a video posted on the guerrilla group’s ELN Paz (Peace) Twitter account, says the government of President Manuel Santos is accusing the ELN of "not respecting the ceasefire agreement. That is false," says Beltran.

The ELN leader states the decades-old Marxist group tried to apply the ceasefire terms in November and December, but that ultimately the agreement wasn't practically applicable.

"The verification mechanism for the ceasefire wasn't functional, so we withdrew ourselves from it in December," Beltran says, noting that the Colombian military was attacking ELN members in their "traditional zones" in rural parts of the country.

“The State Army operations were gaining terrain in our traditional zones.(We) had to dodge confrontation... The government withdrew from the talks without any real motives."

Ceasefire talks broke down Jan. 10 when President Santos called his lead negotiator back to Colombia after receiving word that members of the ELN allegedly attacked the state oil company, Colombian Petrol, in the departments of Boyaca and Arauca.

For over a month Beltran – along with Colombian activists, academics, unions and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres – have been urging Santos to come back to the negotiation table to implement an enforceable ceasefire agreement.

Instead, last week the Attorney General's Office issued a warrant arrest against 21 ELN members, including Beltran himself for alleged forced disappearances and rebellion.

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Twitterusers voiced reservations about Venezuela's fledgling cryptocurrency, but others welcomed its arrival with open arms.]]>21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 20:39:00 Social media is providing a platform for both praise and criticism of Venezuela's new Petro cryptocurrency after President Nicolas Maduro revealed that it generated a total of US$735 million during its first day of pre-sales.

Maduro released a video on national TV on Wednesday, sharing news of the Petro's triumph across social media.

"The Petro is born and we are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela," Maduro had predicted on Tuesday as 82.4 million units, backed by the nation's oil reserves, were released onto the market.

Some Twitter users voiced reservations about the fledgling cryptocurrency, but others welcomed its arrival with open arms.

"With the Petro, the prosperity and production of our beloved Venezuela is strengthened," posted one user.

"@NicolasMaduro: We are taking a giant step towards the new economy and the future. Let's feel proud of the birth of the Petro! the Town has an appointment with the prosperity ... #AlFuturoConElPetro"

"#TheFutureWiththePetro An excellent decision of our President @Nicolas Maduro," another Tweet said.

According to Seniat, the state tax and revenue agency, citizens will be able to use the Petro to pay for tax liabilities, duties, fees, contributions and public services.

"This initiative, this new South, gives us an endless range of options and opportunities in the national and international market, opening new horizons that have no limits,” Mariana Ribera of Infocentro, a national communications company, posted on Twitter.

Maduro says the goal of the new cryptocurrency is to combat sanctions in the 'economic war' waged by the U.S. government and its junior partners against Venezuela, while advancing "on issues of monetary sovereignty to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade."

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21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 20:36:00 A video advising Afro-Brazilian communities on how not to get killed during Brazil's military crackdown on drug-trafficking in poor suburbs went viral over the weekend, accumulating more than 42,000 views by Wednesday.

"In public places, try not to use long umbrellas," recommends Spartakus Santiago during the three-minute video. "This can seem silly, but from a far distance somebody may think that it is a weapon."

He continues: "Try always to be with somebody else, especially if you are a woman, a homosexual, a trans person."

Edu Carvalho, from Favela da Rosinha, tells the camera that: "Unfortunately, us Black people are always targets for abuse and retaliation. When you go out at night, from others' perspective, you are not only Black but an outlaw and you represent a danger."

Carvalho and AD Junior, the third young Black man appearing in the video, recommend always carrying documentation, along with a fully charged phone and the receipt to prove it isn't stolen, and recording any altercations.

Yesterday, Brazil's lower chamber approved a decree authorizing the federal government to dispatch military forces to intervene in security matters in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

The bill allows the Brazilian army to command police forces in the state and authorize search warrants for entire communities —a move sharply criticized by human rights groups.

Vagner Freitas, president of the Unified Workers' Central (CUT), said the people do not need a "military intervention," but a "social intervention": one that expands and improves public education, legal employment and "first jobs for youth."

Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff posted a message on her official Facebook page stating that current President Michel Temer's "regime is closing its claws against the most vulnerable Brazilians who are in most need of justice."

Rousseff noted that the "coup government initiative to promote collective search, seizure and arrest warrants is one of the worst violations of civil rights that Brazil confronts since the end of the dictatorship."

She also warned that it represents "yet another step in the deepening of the state of emergency in Brazil."

Brazil's Association of Judges for Democracy released a statement saying that the military intervention in Rio de Janeiro state represents a direct violation of the constitution.

Brazil has one of the highest number of homicides worldwide, with 61,619 murders reported in 2016.

According to a report released in October by the Brazilian Public Safety Forum, the number of civilians killed in police raids rose to 4,224: a 25.8 percent increase from 2015. Of those, 99.3 percent were men, 81.8 percent were between 12 and 29 years old, and 76.2 percent were Black.

In Rio de Janeiro alone, police were responsible for 8,471 homicides between 2005 and 2014. At a national level, police were responsible for more than 11,197 homicides between 2009 and 2013.

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21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:38:00 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that the country will hold presidential elections on April 22 despite opposition sectors trying to obstruct the elections "because they know they are lost in the political map."

Also, the president said that the elections would be held with or without the participation of Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which on Wednesday announced that by consensus all the parties that make up the group will not participate in the presidential elections.

"In Venezuela there will be elections with MUD or without MUD," President Maduro said at a press conference before local media, before heading a meeting with the Fatherland for All party (Patria Para Todos, PPT) at the National Theater in Caracas.

Also, the head of state indicated that foreigners who are interested in accompanying the elections are invited to participate to see in detail how Venezuelan democracy works.

General elections

President Maduro proposed advancing the legislative elections for April 22, as well as the members of the 23 Legislative Councils and the councilors for the Municipal Councils.

"A mega election, elections, democracy, participation and thus we have the complete picture: legitimate governors and legitimate mayors, new, legitimate National Assembly, legitimate councilors, legitimate regional legislators and a president of the Republic legitimized by the vote," he explained.

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21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 19:16:00 An investigation has been launched into several Swiss banks following allegations that Venezuelan former officials were involved in a corruption scandal centered on state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

The investigation follows sanctions placed last month against five Venezuelan former officials accused of soliciting bribes to help vendors win favorable treatment from PDVSA, as well as hiding extra profits in Switzerland.

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is now probing whether the Swiss banks – which have not yet been identified publicly – adhered to laws designed to combat money laundering.

It is not the first time Swiss banks have been investigated: a 2015 U.S. indictment in the case said several accounts with Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) in Switzerland were subject to forfeiture.

Credit Suisse, a financial service company, stated Wednesday that it has implemented a number of regulations to prevent financial crime. According to its leading directors, the bank takes financial law very seriously and has even terminated some relationships.

In a statement, FINMA said: "FINMA is in contact with various Swiss banks in connection with the PDVSA case. The agency is checking to what extent Swiss banks are involved and if they fulfilled their regulatory obligations."

Swiss banks are the subject of a large-scale crackdown. This month alone, private bank PKB has been forced to surrender more than US$1.39 million. Investigators found that the majority of deposits were made by Brazilian counterparts of both Petrobras and Odebrecht.

In November, the Venezuelan government arrested six board members of Citgo, the PDVSA petroleum subsidiary in the United States, in connection with signing contracts with two U.S. equity fund companies to refinance US$4 million of the 2014-15 Venezuelan government debt. The contracts were made without the Venezuelan government's authority or knowledge, and used Citgo as collateral.

As part of the PDVSA case, approximately US$51 million of frozen assets were successfully transferred to the United States from Switzerland in October 2016. An additional US$67 million remains frozen by the Swiss government.

As the investigation continues, a report from Latin American newspaper El Pais shows that Switzerland's conservative banks were not the only ones used.

The report itemizing the bank statements of three former PDVSA directors – Luis Carlos Leon Perez, Francisco Antonio Jimenez, Eudomario Carruyo – shows they had also allegedly transferred US$60 million to offshore accounts in Andorra.

The bank statements have been added to a local investigation into Banca Privada of Andorra on money laundering allegations.

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]]>21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 18:51:00 Costa Rica's human rights groups are reporting a rise in attacks against LGBT people, as the debate about LGBT rights continues to dominate the presidential elections with polls headed by an evangelical candidate.

"We have recorded 26 people complaining about physical and verbal attacks or attempts of attacks,” said Front for Equal Rights spokesperson Michelle Jones in an interview with EFE.

Five people were physically assaulted; others were insulted and received death threats, according to the organization.

"We are concerned about the safety of these citizens," said Jones. "We all have the right to live without being assaulted. We are urging the State to implement protective measures."

Without naming any suspects, Jones said she believes that"some political and social leaders are not helping to address discrimination.

"They should be more careful about what they say because we want a country where everyone enjoys the same rights, where there are no attacks about sexual orientation or gender identity."

Ultra-conservative evangelical candidate Fabricio Alvarado Munoz beat Carlos Alvarado Quesada at the ballot box earlier this month, with 24 percent of votes in the first round of the general election.

Quesada, who hails from President Guillermo Solis' Citizens' Action Party, notched the second-place finish with 21 percent of votes and will contest the second round of voting.

Both candidates are set to participate in a run-off on April 1.

Alvarado grew in popularity following his vocal condemnation of the legalization of gay marriage in Costa Rica.

The 43-year-old also denounced the Inter-American Human Rights Court's public push for gay rights, rising to the forefront with slogans "defending" family rights and improved sex education to curb teen pregnancies.

Lula, who is campaigning to reclaim the presidency, was sentenced by a three-judge federal appeals court on Jan. 24 in Porto Alegre. His lawyers say the written indictment contained 38 omissions, 16 contradictions and five areas that were unclear.

The faults raised should "result in the annulment of the whole process or acquittal of Lula," say his lawyers, who include Cristiano Zanin Martins and Valeska Teixeira Zanin Martins.

The case was brought to the Porto Alegre appeals court after Lula said he was wrongly accused by Judge Sergio Moro, who sentenced Lula to nine years and six months last July for awarding contracts to Brazilian construction company OAS in exchange for a beachfront duplex near Sao Paulo.

Rather than ruling in Lula's favor, the court increased his sentence.

The case is just one within a larger Petrobras and Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption scandal that involves hundreds of Brazilian state officials and business leaders.

The defense has consistently denied Lula took part in illicit negotiations, saying evidence was based on OAS leader testimonies who had reached a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors.

On a larger scale, Lula and his supporters say the case is part of a plot by powerful right-wing factions within the government and business class to deny the left-wing former president from regaining the presidency.

"President Lula has been subjected to political prosecution and conviction," Lula's laywers told the press following the Jan. 24 ruling.

"This verdict is not safe and is a miscarriage of justice and we will continue to fight this political conviction… Today, three judges have chosen to ignore evidence of innocence and the rule of law."

The same three judges are now due to hear Lula's appeal based on the technical merits of their own sentencing.

Despite the Porto Alegre ruling, Lula is running for president and currently leading in public polls. If he's elected, the indictment may yet stand in the way of him assuming executive office.

]]>http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Whos-Who-Meet-Latin-Americas-2018-Winter-Olympians-20180221-0025.html
Europe or Canada and are returning to represent their homelands.]]>21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:47:00 Thirty-eight Latin American and Caribbean athletes paraded down the elegant promenade set out for the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 9, but who are they?

Argentina and Chile both sent seven of their best winter athletes, while one arrived from Ecuadorand another from Puerto Rico, two from Bolivia, three from Jamaica, four from both Mexico and Colombia, and finally nine from Brazil.

The delegation of Latin American athletes come from myriad backgrounds: some grew up in Europe or Canada and are returning to represent their homelands.

Alpine skier Micheal Poettoz, who was adopted by a French couple at the age of two and grew up sliding down the French Alps, is skiing for his native country for the second time, having first worn its colors in 2015.

"I could represent France, but I prefer to do it for Colombia. I am Colombian, I like my country's food, music and the charm of the people," he said.

Representing Mexico is Colorado-born Sarah Schleper, a past U.S. Olympian, competing on behalf of her husband’s homeland.

"It's my first games as a Mexican, my children are Mexican, my family is Mexican, I feel Mexican, which is why it's like my first games... Mexico gave me everything and that's why I do it," she said.

So far, the games have been brutal, with spills and injuries galore. Argentina's flag bearer and alpine skier Sebastiano Gastaldi suffered a terrible fall Sunday, which resulted in a torn knee ligament. The Argentina Ski Federation and Andinismo reported Gastaldi will not be competing in Thursday's slalom event but he hopes for a quick recovery.

His sister, Nicol, also an Olympic veteran, expressed her initial excitement to be competing alongside her younger brother. However, she also met misfortune after being disqualified from the first downhill women's slalom last Friday after skipping one of the track's checkpoints.

Off-piste, Argentine luge runner Veronica Maria Ravenna, 20, has described her daily ritual prior to hopping on her sled and hurtling down the track at 70 mph.

"I have many superstitions: a song I sing, I check my equipment three times, and many more," she said, adding that she had the fullest confidence in her abilities and her sled, 'Jay.'

Meanwhile Colombia's speed skater, Pedro Causil, has wowed audiences once again with his agility, setting a record as the nation's first Olympic speed skater. This followed his epic debut in the 2008 summer competition, when he set the world record as the fastest roller speed skater in the 300m sprint in Gijon, Spain.

The athlete traded his wheels for blades in 2015, taking both the gold and silver in the Pan-American Games before launching his training for the Olympics.

Numerous other international athletes did the same, including Brazil's cross-country skier and first female biennial Olympian Jaqueline Mourao, who only took up skiing after a terrible snow storm in Canada stopped her from cycling.

Mexico'sGerman Madrazo was another late addition to the sport: he started skiing after reading an article on Peruvian cross-country skier Roberto Carcelen in a sports magazine.

The 43-year-old former triathlon competitor said: "Cross-country skiing is the toughest sport and I thought I was doing the toughest (competing in Ironman triathlons). It really fascinated me."

Carcelen pursued his new passion and formed an independent training group for the 2018 Olympics with other athletes, such as Chilean skier Yonathon Fernandez and Tongan skier Pita Taufatofua.

"At the beginning of December 2017 we realized that, to achieve success in an individual sport, you need to have a team," Madrazo said. "We trained together, we traveled together, we cooked for each other. It was an amazing experience."

Athletes dedicate years to training for the 15-day Olympic event, experiencing and overcoming serious injuries along the way. According to Brazilian bobsledder Rafael Souza Da Silva, learning to rest is also an important part of training.

The Olympic sprinter nearly gave up competing altogether after suffering numerous injuries which restricted him to the 100 and 200m dash. However, he stumbled upon the bobsleigh and adopted the spot due to his physical limitations. Da Silva went on to take the bronze in both the two- and four-man events in the 2016 World Push Championships in Romania, and he stands a good chance of taking a medal home this week.

Chilean skier Stephanie Joffroy also had her fair share of difficulties to overcome: she was diagnosed with Scheuermann's disease at the age of 14 after complaining of back pain. Pain is an unusual symptom for this ailment, which usually results in a distinct curvature of the spine, but Joffroy’s case prevented her from skiing for a full two years.

Outside of training, Joffroy is studying for a second master's degree at the University of Grenoble to coincide with her existing master's degree in engineering devices for training and rehabilitation.

Away from the adrenaline of snowy peaks and deafening crowds, Olympians live a normal life, some working eight- to ten-hour shifts on hospital floors or running from one business meeting to the next.

World champion and 2013 gold medallist, Carrie Russell – a Jamaican bobsledder – sums up her favorite pastime as watching TV. She also spends her off hours working as a teacher's aid in a deaf school on the Caribbean island.

Chilean cross-country skier Claudia Salcedo represents her country in more ways than one, working as a second sergeant and patrol commander in the army.

Skateboarding and photography fill Argentine snowboarder Matias Schmitt's non-Olympic days. According to local media, Schmitt was only in Pyeongchang by chance two days before the event when he realized he had been nominated to compete.

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21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 14:13:00 U.S-trained Honduran military is hunting down anti-government protesters in Honduras, according to the Intercept's report published Tuesday.

Against Honduran law, U.S.-trained and supported special forces agents, TIGRES, have been conducting overnight raids to arrest people.

“They arrived at three in the morning,” a woman's whose home was recently raided and her husband arrested told the Intercept. “My kids were frightened and crying."

The Honduran Secretariat of Security said the arrests were made within the legal course and arrest warrants were issued, along with a prosecutor on spot, and were carried out within the hours allowed by the law.

Per the country's law, search warrants can only be executed between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., but ever since protests against the right-wing incumbent, Juan Orlando Hernandez's which have thrown the country in chaos, numerous cases of night-time raids by the security forces have been reported.

In protests against Hernandez, so far, nearly 35 protesters have been killed by the security forces and others, with hundreds injured, and over 1,000 detained. At least 22 people are reported to be behind bars throughout the country on protest-related charges, according to the Intercept.

According to a report by the Washington Office on Latin America, WOLA, it was revealed that operations carried out by U.S. forces like the Green Berets, the Navy SEALs, and the Army Rangers, tripled in Central America between 2007 and 2014.

The report which analysed a trove of U.S. state department documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act, FOIA request, also stated that in 2007, some 560 foreign troops were trained by 12 JCET members as part of the U.S. Joint Combined Exchange Training, with most of these operations being carried out in Latin America, including Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Of the 21 registered training events, Honduras attended the largest numbers, occurring between 2011 and 2014, a period marked with "serious allegations levied against Honduran security forces—murder, torture, rape, and extortion—went uninvestigated and unpunished," Sarah Kinosian and Adam Isacson, who co-authored the WOLA report also said in the report.

"During JCET training, US forces in Latin America held joint military drills with local forces and taught combat skills, intelligence gathering and riot control techniques, the documents state. At the same time Americans familiarized themselves with the countries they worked in "with a minimal footprint," learning local languages, culture, and terrain," the report detailed.

"With civil affairs and psychological operations among their chief missions, their purpose is as political as it is military," the report stated. "[JCET] activities often enhance US influence in host countries."

Aside from Latin America, the United States Special Operations Command reach and influence could be found in countries such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China, which the Ussocom's commander, Raymond A. Thomas, justified in a 2017 statement saying they had "identified five current and enduring threats in the new National Military Strategy (NMS).

"Although constituting only 2% of the Department's budget and about 2% of its manpower, as a Combatant Command with global responsibilities, USSOCOM plays a critical role in the campaigns against each of these," Thomas added.

According to Tom Dispatch which quoted US Socom spokesman Ken McGraw, in 2017, U.S.' most elite forces conducted missions in nearly 138 countries, roughly covering 70 percent of countries in the world.

"Special Operations Forces are the main effort, or major supporting effort for US VEO-focused operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, across the Sahel of Africa, the Philippines, and Central/South America—essentially, everywhere Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are to be found…"

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21.02.18Wed, 21 Feb 2018 13:36:00 Internal conflicts among parties of Venezuela's Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, have once again come to the fore, with different leaders taking contradictory positions regarding the upcoming electoral process.

On Tuesday, Pedro Pablo Fernandez, head of the Independent Electoral Policy Organization Committee (Copei), said his party would support a unified candidacy for the April 22 presidential elections in Venezuela.

“We want to tell the national political leadership, the whole society, that we will face this government and will defeat it on April 22. We're the majority and abstention is a path that leads us nowhere,” said Fernandez during a press conference.

He said the opposition has lost its place in the political life because of their decision to boycott electoral process and go to the streets instead in an attempt to force President Nicolas Maduro out of office, leading to violent protests in the country.

“We left the electoral path because of an unexplainable reason and we told people we would be on the streets until Maduro quits... The way should have been governor and mayor elections and then we would have won all governor and mayor offices,” said Fernandez.

“Every time the opposition has played abstentionism, we have lost.”

Leaders from the Progressive Advance (AP), Solutions Movement, Red Flag and Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) were also present in the press conference and said they would support the unified candidate proposal.

MAS President Segundo Melendez urged the Venezuelan citizens to take part in the elections, saying that if they all call for participation “we are sure that a majoritarian current will emerge.” He also said that boycotting the elections would be a “triumph of anti-politics.”

Meanwhile, the Justice First (PJ) party announced they would not take part in the next presidential elections, claiming it has been “rigged."

The Popular Will (VP) and A New Time (UNT) parties have also announced they will not take part in the process, drawing criticisms from some opposition leaders.

“Popular Will said they wouldn't take part, and then Justice First did the same. All at different times, which shows there has been no unity,” said Claudio Fermin, a former member of the Democratic Action (AD) party.

Fermin also says there are sectors of the opposition that uphold the path of violence instead of discussing the possibility of a unified candidate.

Two independent evangelical pastors have also announced they will run for president.

Javier Bertucci is the leader of the Maranatha Pentecostal Church and expressed his intentions for office on Sunday, saying he would “bring Jesus” to Venezuela.

It is not known if he will be able to participate, given criminal charges for smuggling and operation of tax havens.

Luis Alejandro Ratti, also a preacher and a former head of the Hugo Chavez Bolivarian Front, announced his intentions on Monday, promising he would “represent the people with chivalry, bravery, and without fear, guaranteeing that they are going to have a different path than the last twenty years.”

None of the preachers seem to have the support of any party and will most likely run as independent candidates.